Sharmila acquitted in 2006 suicide bid case
Manipuri civil rights activist Irom Sharmila was recently acquitted in a case of attempted suicide registered in 2006 when she undertook a fast-unto-death.
- Sharmila launched her fast-unto-death in October 2006 demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
Armed Forces (Special Powers)
Act:
It is an Act empowering armed
forces to deal effectively in ‘Disturbed Areas’. Any area which is declared
‘Disturbed’ under the disturbed areas act enables armed forces to resort to the
provisions of AFSPA.
Who declares an area as
disturbed?
The choice of declaring any
area as ‘disturbed’ vests both with state and central government.
Special powers provided to
armed forces:
After an area comes under the
ambit of AFSPA, any commissioned officer, warrant officer, non-commissioned
officer or another person of equivalent rank can use force for a variety of
reasons while still being immune to the prosecution.
Ambit:
- The act was passed on 11 September 1958 by the parliament of India to provide special legal security to the armed forces carrying out operations in the troubled areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura (seven sisters).
- In 1990 the act was extended to the state of Jammu and Kashmir to confront the rising insurgency in the area.
- In Manipur, despite opposition from the Central government, state government withdrew the Act in some parts in Aug, 2004.
The government can declare
AFSPA in the following conditions:
- When the local administration fails to deal with local issues and the police proves inefficient to cope with them.
- When the scale of unrest or instability in the state is too large for the police to handle.
However, the decision of the
government to declare a particular area ‘disturbed’ cannot be challenged in a
court of law.
